Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

I've just acquired a new SSD for my Mac Pro (running 10.7.5) to use as a boot volume. I want it to be a duplicate of my existing boot HD, and then I want to pull that HD and use only the SSD from now on.

I'm just in the process of using SuperDuper to clone my existing boot HD to this SSD, but I now realise that I won't get the recovery partition along with this clone. I'd like that partition, for peace of mind.

I was thinking that maybe I'd just install Lion to the SSD from scratch (thus ensuring that the recovery partition is installed), and then use the migration assistant to move the data over from old HD to new SSD. Would this be the most efficient way to be up and running, with all my apps and personal settings intact?

I've just spent an hour reading a zillion migration tips, and few seem to match each other, much less address my exact question :-/

I was thinking that maybe I'd just install Lion to the SSD from scratch (thus ensuring that the recovery partition is installed), and then use the migration assistant to move the data over from old HD to new SSD. Would this be the most efficient way to be up and running, with all my apps and personal settings intact?

Basically you have two options. 1 is to do the above, 2 is to complete the cloning and then redownload your OS (Lion or Mountain Lion) from the App Store and reinstall it on top of the clone.

The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.

I find it way better to have an externa; clone of my boot volume, because if you have a mechanical failure, you can continue working. Also, the only time I had a software related drive problem, it screwed the volume as well as the entire drive, I had to reformat the whole thing from an external.

The newest version of Carbon Copy Cloner will in fact make a recovery partition for you. I just did this process last weekend (with a DIY Fusion drive), and it asked if I wanted to make the partition during the restore process.